VENTURA : Business District OKd Over Protests

Despite protests from a minority of downtown Ventura business owners, the Ventura City Council gave its final approval Monday to a special district that would allow downtown merchants to tax themselves to pay for advertising, promotion and street beautification that the city does not provide.

The council voted 6 to 0 to establish the business improvement district, which will levy an average annual fee through the city’s billing system on each business in downtown Ventura. It then will spend the money to promote downtown to shoppers and the potential tenants the district hopes to entice to settle in the dozens of vacant buildings along Main Street and Thompson Boulevard.

Mayor Richard Francis abstained from the vote because his Main Street law office is inside the district.

Before the vote, some downtown merchants chastised the council for giving preliminary approval to the plan two weeks ago.

Mark Gray, a spokesman for the district’s opponents, said six businesses have filed a complaint with the Ventura Police Department accusing the district’s organizers of defrauding merchants.

The organizers allegedly defrauded the merchants by telling them the process of dismantling the district is much easier than it actually is, and by saying that such districts are successful in other cities when Santa Barbara actually lost businesses this year, Gray said. Ventura police could not be reached Monday afternoon for comment on the charges.

Gray said several businesses that city records showed in support of the district actually signed petitions opposing it.

“The council cannot force us to join anything against our will,” Gray said. “We have assurances that the people opposed to this will file for a cease and desist order and keep it held up in the courts for years.”

But the majority of downtown businesses support the district, said restaurateur Sandy Smith, one of its organizers.

Other fees in the district range from $500 a year for businesses with at least 10 employees to $150 a year for businesses such as banks, doctors and lawyers. Motels and hotels will pay fees ranging from $166 to $999 a year, based on the number of rooms.

The district is bounded by Ash and Olive streets on the east and west, and by Poli Street and the Pacific Ocean on the north and south.